Drawing upon decades of experience, RAND provides research services, systematic analysis, and innovative thinking to a global clientele that includes government agencies, foundations, and private-sector firms.

The Pardee RAND Graduate School (PRGS.edu) is the largest public policy Ph.D. program in the nation and the only program based at an independent public policy research organization—the RAND Corporation.

Tamara Dubowitz

Education

Sc.D. in public health nutrition/social epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health; S.M. in maternal and child health, Harvard School of Public Health; M.Sc. in anthropology, University of Pennsylvania

Overview

Tamara Dubowitz is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. Trained in social epidemiology with concentrations in maternal and child health and public health nutrition, Dubowitz's research interests include neighborhood effects, particularly that of the built physical and social environment; obesity and diet-related disease; and the health and nutrition effects of policy (e.g., housing policy, food policy, urban planning) and monitoring and evaluation. Her work has utilized both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine individuals within their social and structural contexts.

In addition to spending more than two years working on women's health programs and development with the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso, West Africa, Dubowitz led an evaluation of a maternal and child nutrition program led by UNICEF India. More recently, she has looked at factors of the built environment and their association with prevalence of obesity in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dubowitz received her M.Sc. in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania and her S.M. and Sc.D. from the Harvard School of Public Health.

The fire and resulting closure of the Liberty Bridge is forcing some Pittsburgh high school students to sacrifice sleep to meet a new 7:11 a.m. start time. Sleep loss has consequences for adolescents' minds, bodies, behavior, and for public safety.

There's little rigorous evidence to support the notion that 'food deserts' are driving the U.S. obesity epidemic. But this narrative has nearly become conventional wisdom. In response, stakeholders have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into bringing supermarkets to these neighborhoods.

Atop the new mayor's agenda should be improving the health and well-being of Pittsburgh residents. With an unassailable electoral mandate in hand, Mr. Peduto is positioned to take bold steps. And the best way to do that is by applying scientific and medical evidence to shape an integrated, citywide, health-policy framework.

In an era of budget constraints, policymakers confronting the U.S. obesity crisis need strong evidence from projects like PHRESH to inform decisions about where and how to invest, writes Tamara Dubowitz.

We will be more successful at stemming the growing tide of obesity and improving our own health if everyone accepts their share of responsibility for the obesity epidemic, write Chloe E. Bird and Tamara Dubowitz.

Perceptions of a neighborhood's characteristics, such as safety, were associated with sleep quality among low-income African American adults, but objective characteristics, such as crime rates, were not.

In 2013, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) began its Culture of Health initiative. To implement the primary Culture of Health outcome of improved population health, well-being, and equity, RWJF worked with RAND to develop an action framework.

RAND engaged stakeholders to support development of an action framework and measurement strategy for Robert Wood Johnson's Culture of Health vision, in which "everyone in our diverse society leads healthier lives now and for generations to come."

The Pittsburgh Hill/Homewood Research on Eating, Shopping, and Health study found that a new full-service supermarket in a food desert led to improvements in the quality of neighborhood residents' diets, though not in obesity rates.

Recent debate about the role of food deserts in the United States has prompted discussion on policies being enacted, including efforts that encourage the placement of full-service supermarkets into food deserts.

Many Pittsburgh residents in the communities around Frick Park are interested in environmental issues and education, and some use the park. However, awareness of the park and its Environmental Center could be improved, and barriers to use addressed.

We obtained community group and resident input into the design of the new environmental center building at Frick Park (in Pittsburgh, Pa.) and acquired information about residents' attitudes toward and use of Frick Park more generally.

Using geographic information system (GIS) technology to enhance provision of services by local health departments by enabling them to visually compare where health services are needed with where they are provided.

Summarizes key RAND studies on the causes of obesity, its economic and health consequences, and potential strategies for prevention, including work on health care costs, junk food, food deserts, school meals, and proximity of parks.

This fact sheet summarizes a study examining the variation of the intake of fruits and vegetables for blacks, whites, and Mexican Americans, in addition to the relationship between neighborhood socioeconomic status and this intake.

Related RAND Resources

The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest.